Rostom Sarkissian Wins Coro Fellowship

Rostom Sarkissian a 2002 Occidental College graduate from Glendale, has been awarded a Coro Fellowship to spend nine months in Pittsburgh enrolled in the Fellows Program in Public Affairs.

The program starts in September and will give Sarkissian an opportunity to shadow elected officials, department heads and chief executive officers to learn how business gets done in the social, political and economic fabric of a city.

Sarkissian, who graduated with honors in earning a degree in diplomacy and world affairs, is one of 52 fellows who will serve in Coro centers in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Each fellow receives a stipend and works in a series of assignments with a government agency, business, political campaign, labor union, media organization and non-profit group.

“I am excited to be part of Coro’s mission to train and prepare future community leaders,” Sarkissian said. “This is an excellent opportunity to acquire the skills that make good public leaders, and then translate those skills into positive change for my community.”

Sarkissian ultimately plans to attend graduate school, where he will study public policy or public administration en route to a career in government. He is now working as an assistant to the city manager in Bradbury.

Sarkissian shares his Coro honor with 2003 Occidental graduate Martha Hernandez of Oakland, who won a Coro to work in San Francisco. The pair are Occidental’s fourth and fifth winners in two years.

Coro was founded in San Francisco in 1942 when W. Donald Fletcher, an attorney, and Van Duyn Dodge, an investment counselor, launched an exploration into the world of public affairs. Their premise was based on the realization that, unlike law, business or medicine, post-graduate training in the area of leadership was non-existent. The name “Coro” is the creation of its founders. It was a new word and one without association, invented to represent both discovery and exploration.